television that's educational and informational.u're watching the more you know on nbc. jack: hi, i'm jack rico, and this is "consumer 101." swerving in the name of science, we hit the test track for a firsthand look at a life-saving car safety feature. and we scratch them, drop them, dunk them in water, cell phones and smartwatches put through a whole battery of tests, but is your phone tough enough to survive the ultimate stress test? plus, how an imaginary dog could help stop a burglar from breaking into your home. [dog barking] jack: then, information is everywhere. sarah: did you hear the one about antibacterial soap? jack: no. and i'm collecting it piece-by-piece for my tip

jar. man: hey, jack, we're ready for you. jack: all right, let's go. we're on a mission to teach you how to be a smart consumer... there we go! ...and get the most out of the products and services you use every day. are you ready for this? join me and the consumer reports experts in the test labs and out in the field for "consumer 101." the cool thing about being here at the consumer reports test track is that you never know what's going to happen next. jake, that was crazy! what was that? jake: so, what you just saw was what we call the avoidance maneuver, and it's actually part of our emerging handling test here at the track. so, first of all, we're going to have ryan here. he's going to drive a car, and we're going to get in the control booth, and i'll show you how we do this test. so, welcome to the control center. jack: all right. wow, i like the view from here. below us, a course is set up with cones to test how

safely a car can handle a sudden swerve around a road hazard. jake: so, think about it this way. say you're driving along and you're in your lane, and then suddenly, there's something in your lane that you need to avoid. now, you need to go and actually get into the oncoming lane because you need to avoid it, and you don't want to go off into the grass. jack: right. jake: but as soon as you get into that oncoming lane, you've got to get back, because maybe there's a car coming. jack: that's true. jake: and then you come back, and that's essentially what we're simulating here. the objective is trying to figure out really how fast this car can go through this maneuver. jack: auto engineer gabe shinhar tells technician ryan pszczolkowski to start up his engine for the first test run. the team uses a laser beam hooked up to a computer to measure the car's speed. jake: so, he's going to go through the cones to the laser beams, swerves. jack: back in lane. so, what are we looking at here with the computer? jake: so, you see right there? jack: yeah. jake: 46.7. jack: ryan didn't hit a cone, so now he hits the gas a little harder as he runs the course again. all right, there comes ryan again.

he just went through the lasers, swerves. jake: look at that. so, we're just going to keep on bringing up that speed until we know exactly what is the maximum this car can go through. some car that has really good handling and a lot of grip from tires and that's tuned really safely, that could do it quite quick. but, you know, you get something maybe like a taller suv, it's going to struggle a lot. jack: now ryan is asked to take the speed up another notch. ooh, oh! this time, ryan clips the cone on the corner as he comes back into his lane. couple of cones went there. jake: yep. jack: what did we see there? jake: so, he's past the speed that that car can do it. jack: and this time, they found the exact speed limit for this car in this situation. right, pretty good. jake: yep. that went great, clean run. jack: so, we're looking at 52, around there, maybe 50

miles per hour. jake: right. jack: that's probably the top speed for that car to be able to do the avoidance maneuver test. jake: right, we're honing in on what that speed is, and it's not just about what that speed is. it's about the confidence, too, and we're measuring... jack: so, now we're looking at the driver's confidence. jake: you got it. you got it. you know, it's one thing if a car can get through here 55 miles per hour, but only a, you know, top trained, you know, driver can do it. we want this car to be able for everyone to be able to go through it. jack: a car's top speed through the avoidance maneuver is factored into its emergency handling score, which helps consumers find safer cars. what's been helping ryan get through these hard turns is a modern safety feature called electronic stability control. jake: what electronic stability control does is it's these electronics that will individually hit the brakes on those four wheels to help you keep that car where you want it to go. jack: jake, we have a family that has a question. let's ask cr. jake: sure. brian: hey, jack, i'm brian, and this is my daughter. julianna: hi, i'm julianna.

i'm going to be driving in a couple of years, and we are looking to buy a used car, and i was wondering if there was any safety features i should be looking out for. jack: that's actually a really good question, jake. what happens when you're a younger driver looking for an older car? should it have stability control? jake: absolutely. this is one of the most important things. i mean, this is a feature that could save your life, and this happens all the time, because a lot of people, they're looking for cars. and if you're looking for a car that's older than 2012, and that's when they made it standard, it may have it; it may not. but depending on having that feature, this could be a game-changer. this could be whether or not you're going to have that crash or not. jack: the car ryan is using has been specially adapted so that electronic stability control can be turned off, and just look at the difference. oh, ooh. that was not good at all. jake: so, he didn't do anything different, but because the car did not have that feature helping him out, look at the difference. and can you imagine how different that would be if

you were on the road? jack: jake, that was fascinating and very informative. thank you. jake: well, you're very welcome, and nice job, ryan. ryan: thank you. jack: coming up, we head to a lab where they drop, dunk, and scratch gadgets in the name of science. it looks like it's being completely wrecked in there. stay tuned for a smashing good time. then later, when you go on vacation, are you unwittingly making your house an attractive target for burglars? some simple steps to thwart a thief. and i'm on the lookout for useful information to put in my tip jar. announcer: we'll be right back to the more you know on nbc.

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helps keep your dog safe all year long. test dogs for infection prior to use. in rare cases: digestive and neurological side effects have been reported. for more information contact your vet. get your dog out of hiding, ask your vet about heartgard plus. the vet's #1 choice. announcer: we now return [jack humming]u know on nbc. maria: hey, jack, what are you doing? jack: oh, hey, maria. i'm here getting ready for my stress test. maria: it's not a stress test for people. it's a stress test for gadgets. jack: gadgets, oh, looks like i got the wrong stress test. maria: yeah, you'll like this one a lot better. follow me. jack: okay, you got it. so, we head to the consumer reports gadget stress test lab. maria: this is where we test gadgets, mobile

devices such as smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, to see if they can stand up to the manufacturers' claims for durability and also to see if they can handle the typical physical harm that consumers might put them through. maria: we use these picks for it. these are picks that are calibrated to the mohs scale. jack: what is the mohs scale? maria: the mohs scale is a scientific standard that is used to evaluate the hardness of minerals. it works on the principle that a harder material will always scratch a softer material. jack: oh, i see, so you kind of go through a soft scratch all the way to a very hard scratch. maria: correct, so, the scale is one to ten, one being very soft, like talc, and ten being very, very hard, like diamond. jack: so, why don't we start the test? maria: of course. jack: all right, we'll start from scratch? maria: okay. [jack laughing] jack: maria starts with a number seven on the mohs scale. maria: and just going back and forth, there's no

scratches, very smooth. jack: does that mean that the watch is scratch-resistant? maria: no, it means that the material over the watch is harder than the material on the pick. jack: so, maria swaps out the seven pick for an eight. jack: it's scratching. now we know that a number eight can scratch this watch. how does this then help a consumer when it's time to purchase a watch? maria: right, well, we're checking the watches comparatively. so, another watch that maybe doesn't scratch until nine or maybe not even scratch at nine... jack: right. maria: ...will have a harder surface and will be less susceptible to scratches. we could also do this kind of a test on phones. same thing, if you don't want scratches on the face of your phone, we could figure out which ones are more susceptible to scratches than others. jack: okay, so, now that we know this, are there any more tests we got to do? maria: yeah, we have plenty of equipment in here. let's move on to the next one.

maria: so, jack, this is our depth pressure chamber. jack: what exactly does it do? maria: we use this for a dunk test. we use it to test devices such as smartphones or smartwatches or action cameras like this for the manufacturer's claim of how deep underwater it can go. in this case, this particular action camera is supposed to be able to go to 33 feet underwater. that's the manufacturer's spec for it. jack: so, even though it's not 33 feet, then how do you simulate that to get an accurate reading? maria: so, 33 feet under the water actually exerts pressure. the water itself will exert pressure on the device. jack: okay. maria: in this case, we're going to simulate that pressure with air pressure, and that's what this tank does. jack: oh, so, you're going to use both. maria: yes. jack: all right, great. and i get to play lab assistant... maria: we have some compressed air here. would you turn on that valve? just swing it over. jack: all right. ...until it reaches the simulated pressure of 33 feet underwater. maria: okay, so, in a real test, we would leave it in

for 30 minutes, but for this demonstration, we can take it now. jack: okay. maria: all right. so, first, we're going to release the pressure. jack: all right. we're almost there. finally, the moment of truth arrives. maria: okay, jack, you want to take the lid off? and then we'll take it out. jack: does it work? maria: look, it's working. jack: it works! maria: looks like it's working. you can see your face on it. jack: yeah! hi! maria: this is our tumble tester. we use this to test mobile devices such as a smartphone or a tablet to see how it can withstand being dropped. jack: okay, here's a phone. maria: all right, let's try it, yep. jack: and soon, it's rumbling and tumbling around. [phone tumbling]

maria: it's going to rotate. it's not moving particularly fast, but it's enough to have the phone drop from end to end repeatedly. jack: it looks like it's being completely wrecked in there. maria: well, it's dropping it about three feet, which would be like off a table or out of your pocket, about that type of a height. the theory is that the phone will drop in all different orientations so that you kind of get it everywhere, and if it can come out of this alive after 50 or a hundred of these drops, it's going to be pretty resistant to a drop. jack: it's hard to believe any phone could withstand this kind of punishment, and yet... all right, let's see the results. maria: it passed. jack: it works. maria: yep. jack: do you feel that more manufacturers are making stronger phones because of a test like this? maria: so, what we do find is that there are many phones that can pass this test. even after a hundred drops, they come out without damage or there are some that just take a little bit of damage. jack: okay. so, we have one more test, maria. maria: so, jack, this is our drop tester. jack: so, what is the difference between the

drop tester and the tumbler? maria: so, the tumbler will drop the phone in any different randomized orientation. with the drop tester, we can orient the phone to drop on its corner, on its edge, any edge that we want, any kind of face that we want. jack: well, my phones, every time they drop, they drop always, like, on the corner. maria: on the corner? jack: i don't know why, yeah. maria: all right, let's try that. so, we're going to put it on the corner right here. here we go. jack: that was it? maria: that's it. jack: okay. maria: it landed on concrete. it's got a little... jack: and there's just a smudge on it. maria: so, i'm looking to see if the phone actually got scratched or smudged. it turns out that was just concrete dust. see it wipes right off? jack: yeah. maria: so, the phone itself is not damaged. the phone itself is still working. jack: that leaves maria feeling pretty good about her work here in more ways than one. maria: as an engineer, i appreciate that we're doing this in a scientific way, and as a consumer, it's important to me because i just dropped my phone a little while ago. so, i'd like to know which phone will last longer for

me as well. jack: thank you so much, maria. i really learned a lot from these demonstrations. maria: you're welcome. jack, don't forget your cell phone. jack: i don't want to leave this in there. coming up, you want to get away? a lot of burglars want you to, tips to trick those thieves and keep your stuff safe. speaking of tips, i'm on the prowl for useful information to add to my tip jar. announcer: we'll be right back to the more you know on nbc. ♪ you guys hungry? ♪ ♪ ♪

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updates and your complete forecast so you are ready to get out the door and take on the day.

plus - the latest headlines from the bay area to capitol hill. join us monday morning for today in the bay from 4:30 to 7. . to the more you know on nbc. jack: welcome back to "consumer 101" you love your things, cool clothes, awesome video games. you want to keep what you have safe from burglars, right? you might take summer vacations, but they don't. here are some tips from consumer reports to protect your property when you're not home. eliminate hiding places like those shrubs in front of your windows. light up the outside with motion sensors and path lights. no bad guys like those.

and with the right device, your doorbell can activate the lights. make your door harder to kick in. these short screws only go into the trim, no match for your average bad guy boot. replace the strike plate with one that has four long screws in a recessed pocket that fastens to the stud. tests discover that a strike plate improves the performance of every lock they were paired with. .

jack: whoa! maria: right now, we have concrete. jack: okay, so, that's going to hurt that phone. maria: potentially. we'll see. jack: hey little guy. i'm going to miss you. don't get too wet. hey jack, how's the shoot going? jack: did i just jump over that? man: let's go back to one. althea: wire-bristle brushes are actually dangerous if you use them to clean off your grill. jack: don't use wireless bristle brushes. althea: wire-bristle -- sorry. jack: what did i say? althea: you said wireless.

jack: wireless. has people around the right now at 4:30, a stunning performance for tiger woods. it's got people around the world and right here in the bay area in amazement. president trump continues to discuss dropping immigrants off in sanctuary cities. new comments from the trump administration today. back at home in the bay area, eric returns to his roots as he makes a run for the white house. the news starts right now. thanks for joining us. eric swallwell joins a crowded field of